Disposable surgical towel

ABSTRACT

A surgical repair drape or towel is provided comprising a generally rectangular sheet of nonwoven material provided with a strip of double-faced adhesive on one surface. The drape is folded over on its outer surface from one longitudinal edge to form a cuff and thereafter folded inwardly from both transverse edges forming end sections. Each end section overlies adjacent portions of the center section thereby completely covering the inner surface of the drape and dividing the cuff into pockets. The adhesive extends adjacent the top margin of the cuff on the inner surface of the drape. The drape is so folded that a technician may unfold and apply the drape to a patient by handling only the outer surface and without necessitating any contact with the inner surface.

United States Patent [72] Inventors John J. Madden Kearny; Martin P.Galen, Livingston, both of N .J [21] Appl. No. 35,848 [22] Filed May 8,1970 [45] Patented Dec. 7, 1971 v [73] Assignee Becton, Dickinson 8:Company East Rutherford, NJ.

[54] DISPOSABLE SURGICAL TOWEL 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 128/132, 128/296 [51] Int. Cl A611 13/00, A611 l5/00 [50]Field of Search 128/132, 296, 292

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,037,507 6/1962 Mecges128/132 D X 3,335,719 8/1967 Boucher 128/132 D 3,540,441 11/1970 Collins3,424,153 1/1969 Lewis l28/132D 128/132D ABSTRACT: A surgical repairdrape or towel is provided comprising a generally rectangular sheet ofnonwoven material provided with a strip of double-faced adhesive on onesurface. The drape is folded over on its outer surface from onelongitudinal edge to form a cuff and thereafter folded inwardly fromboth transverse edges forming end sections. Each end section overliesadjacent portions of the center section thereby completely covering theinner surface of the drape and dividing the cuff into pockets. Theadhesive extends adjacent the top margin of the cuff on the innersurface of the drape. The drape is so folded that a technician mayunfold and apply the drape to a patient by handling only the outersurface and without necessitating any contact with the inner surface.

PATENTED HEB new 3525; 205

Z INVENTOQS k JOHN I MADO N B/ARTl/V I. GALE/V nrsPosABLE SURGICAL TOWELBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Prior to most surgical procedures, the areaof concern is blocked out with surgical towels or drapes. That is,towels are clipped directly to the patient or to the dressing coveringthe patient surrounding the area where the incision is to be made. Thesetowels serve to provide a relatively sterile environment surrounding theoperative area. Heretofore, such towels were commonly attached directlyto the patients body or to the surgical covering over the patientutilizing stainless steel or other metal clips to prevent slippageduring surgery. The drapes utilized were conventional hospital towels ordrapes formed of linen or other suitable material and require washingand sterilization prior to each use.

In a similar fashion, it is common for obstetricians to utilize repairdrapes immediately following delivery as part of the afterbirth repairprocedure. Such obstetrical repair drapes serve a similar function tothe surgical towels described above and repair drapes heretoforeavailable have the same shortcomings. Another shortcoming common to bothsurgical towels and repair drapes is that they must be fully opened inthe operating room prior to application, thereby destroying, somewhat,the sterile field surrounding the incision.

In view of the above, it is the principal object of the presentinvention to provide a disposable surgical repair drape or towel adaptedto be readily applied to a patient as part of a surgical or obstetricalprocedure which does not require the utilization of auxiliary dips orother attachment means.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a drape ortowel which is prefolded in a manner designed to enable the unfoldingthereof without necessitating that the technician unfolding the drapecontact the surface of the drape to be brought in contact with thepatient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above and other beneficial objects andadvantages are attained in accordance with the present invention byproviding a surgical repair drape or towel initially comprising agenerally rectangular sheet of nonwoven, fiber material having top,bottom and opposed side edges and inner and outer surfaces. A minorportion of the sheet is first folded over the outer surface of the majorportion from the bottom edge along a longitudinal line parallel to thebottom edge. The bottom edge of the drape is then brought intosubstantial alignment with the longitudinal fold and a secondlongitudinal fold is formed at the approximate midpoint of the minorportion whereby the inner surface of the minor portion is entirelycovered. That is, the inner surfaces of both halves of the minor portionare brought against each other leaving only the outer surface exposed. Adouble-faced adhesive is applied to the inner surface of the majorportion of the drape extending adjacent the longitudinal fold line. Theslides of the thus-folded drape are then folded over the inner surfaceof the'major portion of the drape along transverse fold lines and theside edges of the major portion are brought into substantially abuttingrelationship with each other whereby the entire inner surface of thefolded drape is covered. The area between each transverse fold line andside edge of the folded over minor portion of the drape defines ahand-receiving pocket wherein every surface of the drape accessiblethrough the pocket comprises the outer surface of the rectangular sheet.

In use, a technician slips one hand into each pocket and snaps open thefolded drape exposing but not touching the inner surface of the drapeand the double-faced adhesive. The inner surface of the drape andexposed adhesive is then posi tioned and secured on the patient asrequired. The cuff may be opened if necessary to accommodate largerpatients.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings: FIG. Iis a perspective view of a repair drape or surgical towel folded inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the unfolded sheet from which the drape ofFIG. 1 is formed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the sheet of FIG. 2 partially folded inaccordance with the present invention indicating the transverse andlongitudinal folds;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the final folding of thepartially folded drape of FIG. 3 and also illustrating the method ofhandling the folded drape to enable its opening for application; and,

FIG. 5 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 2 wherein the position of theadhesive and adhesiverepellent zones of the sheet of FIG. 2 have beeninterchanged.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference is now madeto the drawings wherein similar components bear the same referencenumerals throughout the several views. The surgical repair drape ortowel 10 of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 in theprefolded condition in which it is supplied to hospitals andlaboratories for use. The drape is formed of a nonwoven, fiber paperwhich is sufficiently inexpensive to render the drape disposable aftereach use. The drape may be formed of a moisture absorbent or repellentmaterial as required by the particular end application. The drape issterilized prior to shipment to the hospital and suitably packaged tomaintain sterility until use.

An unfolded sheet 12 from which the drape is formed is illustrated inFIG. 2. The unfolded drape 12 includes a bottom edge 14, a top edge 16and side edges 18 and 20. The sheet further includes an inner surface 22which eventually will be brought into contact with a patient and anouter surface 24. The sheet I2 is further divided into a major portion26 and a minor portion 28 along fold line 30 which extendslongitudinally across the sheet between side edges 18 and 20 parallel tothe top and bottom edges.

A strip of tape extends along the inner surface of major portion 26adjacent fold line 30. A zone 34 of double-faced contact adhesivecomprises the center section of the strip. The contact adhesive zone 34extends from the middle of the sheet toward both side edges 18 and 20for approximately a quarter of the length of the drape in each directionso that the total length of the adhesive zone is equal to approximatelyone-half the total length of the drape. Adhesive-resistant zones 32 and320 are provided on the ends of the strip in line with the adhesive zone34. Each of zones 32 and 320 comprises a strip of wax-coated materialwhich may readily be separated from contact with the adhesive of zone 34without adversely affecting the tackiness of the adhesive. A tab 33 (and33a) comprising an extension of the strip extends beyond the edge of thesheet.

The unfolded sheet 12 is initially folded longitudinally along fold line30 so that the outer surface of minor portions 28 is brought intocontact with portions of the outer surface of major portion 26.Thereafter, the minor portion 28 is folded longitudinally in halfbringing the inner surfaces 38 and 40 of each half of the minor portionin surface to surface contact as illustrated in FIG. 3. The thuspartially folded drape is then further divided into a center zone 44 andend zones 46 and 48 by transverse fold lines 50 and 52. Center zone 44is coextensive with the adhesive strip 34 and end zones 46 and 48 areeach coextensive with the adhesive-repellent strips 32 and 320respectively. Referring now to FIG. 4 it is noted that the final foldingsteps of the drape comprise folding side edge 20 inwardly over the innersurface of the drape along transverse fold line 50 and similarly foldingside edge 18 inwardly along transverse fold line 52 bringing the innersurface of end sections 46 and 48 in surface-to-surface contact with theinner surface of center section 44 and thereby totally covering theinner surface drape. At the same time, the adhesive-repellent strips 32and 320 are brought to overlie portions of the adhesive zone 34 therebyforming the completely folded drape 10 of FIG. 1. It should be notedthat all the exposed surfaces of the folded drape of FIG. 1 comprise theouter surface of the unfolded sheet 12.

FIG. 4 illustrates the method of unfolding the surgical drape of thepresent invention. Accordingly. the technician places his hands withinthe pockets 54 and 56 formed from portions of the cuff defined by minorportion 28 by folding end sections 46 and 48 over onto center section44. It should be appreciated that all the surfaces of both pockets 54and 56 comprise the outer surface 24 of the unfolded drape 12. Thetechnician then opens the folded drape as shown in FIG. 4 by separatinghis hands while in the pockets. To do this. it may be necessary for himto grasp the outer surface of the drape between thumb and index fingerwhile separating. When the end portions of the drape have thus beenunfolded, the inner surface and adhesive are exposed for application tothe patient. Altemately, with the primary embodiment drape. thetechnician may grasp tabs 33 and 33a and use these tabs to snap thedrape open The tabs 33 and 33a are then folded back as illustrated inFIG. 1.

In FIG. 5. an alternative embodiment of the unfolded sheet 12 isillustrated wherein two adhesive zones 58 and 58a are provided on theinner surface of the drape adjacent longitudinal fold line 30 and asingle adhesive-repellent zone 60 is provided. In this alternateembodiment, the adhesive zones are along the outer quarters oflongitudinal line 30 and the adhesive-repellent zone comprises the outerhalf. The tabs 33 and 33a of the primary embodiment are not provided.The folding of this drape is identical to that of the drape of theprimary embodiment. This alternate embodiment finds particular use as anobstetrical repair drape whereas the primary embodiment is moreparticularly well suited as a surgical towel.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. A folded disposable surgical towel or repair drape comprising agenerally rectangular sheet of nonwoven fiber material having inner andouter surfaces; top. bottom and opposed side edges; a longitudinal foldline parallel to the bottom edge dividing the sheet into major and minorportions. said minor portion defining a cuff on the outer surface ofsaid major portion; a strip extending along the inner surface of saidmajor portion from side to side said strip being divided into a centersection comprising approximately one-half its length and end sections.each end section comprising approximately one-quarter the length of saidstrip; a double-faced contact adhesive and adhesive-repellent materialdisposed on adjacent sections of said strip, a pair of transverse foldlines parallel to said opposed sides. each transverse fold lineextending through the border of the center section and an end section ofsaid strip whereby the area coextensive with each of the end sections isfolded on the inner surface of the area coextensive with the centersection so as to completely cover the inner surface of the major portionof the folded drape.

2. The towel or drape of claim 1 wherein said strip is disposed adjacentsaid longitudinal fold line.

3. The towel or drape of claim 1 wherein said double-faced adhesive isdisposed on the center section of said strip, said adhesive-repellentmaterial is disposed on each of said end sections. and furthercomprising extensions of said strip extending beyond the side edges ofsaid sheet.

4. The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein said double-facedadhesive is disposed on each of said end sections and saidadhesive-repellent material is disposed on said center section.

5. The invention in accordance with claim I further comprising a secondlongitudinal fold line extending across said minor portion and saidminor portion is folded in half along said line with the inner surfaceof each half in surface-to-surface contact.

1. A folded disposable surgical towel or repair drape comprising agenerally rectangular sheet of nonwoven fiber material having inner andouter surfaces; top, bottom and opposed side edges; a longitudinal foldline parallel to the bottom edge dividing the sheet into major and minorportions, said minor portion defining a cuff on the outer surface ofsaid major portion; a strip extending along the inner surface of saidmajor portion from side to side, said strip being divided into a centersection comprising approximately one-half its length and end sections,each end section comprising approximately one-quarter the length of saidstrip; a double-faced contact adhesive and adhesiverepellent materialdisposed on adjacent sections of said strip; a pair of transverse foldlines parallel to said opposed sides, each transverse fold lineextending through the border of the center section and an end section ofsaid strip whereby the area coextensive with each of the end sections isfolded on the inner surface of the area coextensive with the centersection so as to completely cover the inner surface of the major portionof the folded drape.
 2. The towel or drape of claim 1 wherein said stripis disposed adjacent said longitudinal fold line.
 3. The towel or drapeof claim 1 wherein said double-faced adhesive is disposed on the centersection of said strip, said adhesive-repellent material is disposed oneach of said end sections, and further comprising extensions of saidstrip extending beyond the side edges of said sheet.
 4. The invention inaccordance with claim 1 wherein said double-faced adhesive is disposedon each of said end sections and said adhesive-repellent material isdisposed on said center section.
 5. The invention in accordance withclaim 1 further comprising a second longitudinal fold line extendingacross said minor portion and said minor portion is folded in half alongsaid line with the inner surface of each half in surface-to-surfacecontact.